York County Courthouse could reopen within a year

By this time next year, court could once again be in session in downtown York.

The York County Council on Monday voted to approve the low bid to complete work on the historic York County Courthouse, paving the way for the 101-year-old building on Congress Street to once again host court proceedings and county offices.

Completion of the renovations will end a long-running, and at times imperiled, effort to keep the courthouse up and running.

Leitner Construction Co. of Rock Hill submitted the lowest bid of four companies that sought the job, at $7.3 million. James Britton, an executive with Cumming Construction Management, which solicited the bids, told the council that was more than $460,000 under what was budgeted for the project.

The courthouse has been shuttered for four years while on-and-off work has been done to upgrade and modernize the building. Legal proceedings and county employees were moved from the building while lead-based paint and asbestos were stripped from the walls, and workers began abatement work to remove mold.

But work stalled when cost projections overran what the county had put aside for completion of the project. York County had designated $5.3 million to bring the building up to the standards of a 21st-century government building, with extra office space, security features and handicapped accessibility, but later architectural estimates put the total cost at closer to $11.2 million.

For a time, county officials considered permanently closing the building, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and moving all court functions to the Moss Justice Center just outside the city limits. That was opposed by city business leaders and elected officials who feared losing the courthouse, its employees and associated foot traffic would harm York’s downtown business district.

Cumming Construction Management was hired to review the project last year and adjusted the projected renovation costs down to $9.1 million, including $1.5 million already spent.

Before the vote, County Council Chairman Britt Blackwell acknowledged the advocacy of the city of York but says credit for saving the courthouse goes to the Cumming staff.

“They showed through their due diligence that it was more cost effective to the taxpayer than moving to a new structure,” Blackwell said.

In addition to Leitner’s base bid of $7 million, the council approved four additional projects – adding an emergency power generator, $93,000; adding a dumbwaiter, to move heavier items between floors, $37,000; creating a new entrance at the adjacent Agricultural Building’s parking lot, $19,000; and putting up a canopy for the new entrance, $97,500.

At Cumming’s suggestion, the council dropped plans for purchasing a $50,000 two-year extended warranty.

If completed on schedule, work on the courthouse should be done by Aug. 31, 2016, and city leaders hope to have the courthouse open by next year’s Summerfest.

The year 2016 also will mark the 230th anniversary of the opening of the first courthouse in downtown York, in 1786.

The Enquirer-Herald’s Jennifer Becknell contributed

This story was originally published September 8, 2015 at 8:37 PM with the headline "York County Courthouse could reopen within a year."